Tire-bead-forming apparatus.



C. KUENTZEL.

TlRE BEAD FRMING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED DEC. I8, I9I5.

Patented J une 13, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET'I.

C.y KUENTZEL.

TIRE-BEAD FORMING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. I8, 1915.

Patented Jun@ 13,1916.

2 sIIEETsLsHEET 2.

Sme/nto@ EIIBT KIIENTZEL hereby cUn'r KUErrrznL,v or YoUNGsrowN, 01110, AssIGrNon ro THE REPUBLIC numana COMPANY, OF YOUNGSTOWN,

OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

TIRE-BEAD-FORMING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

- Patented June 13, 1916.

Application led December 18, 1915. Serial No'. 67,557.v

ToaZZ whom t may concern Be it known that I, CURT KUENTZEL, a subject of the Emperor ofv Germany, residing Vat Youngstown, in the county of Mahoning and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements 'in Tire-Bead-Forl'ning Apparatus; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and 4exact description of the invention, suchas will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the Same. 'l' i This invention relates to new and improved 'apparatus for forming straight side and clencher beads for use in the manufacture of automobile tires, and is designed more especially for the formation of endless tire beads the body portions of which are preferably of thread. or cord-wound construction impregnated with rubber.

The invention has for an object the building of bead-cores or bodies by a continuous winding or reelingprocess, without the -employment of ordinary mold members.

A furthery object is the lconstruction of special apparatus'by agency whereof the aforesaid results fmay -be economically accomplished speed, accuracy, and precision.

A vfurther object of the present invention is the. production of non-stretchable tire .beads of uniform density and tensile strength. With the foregoing and other objects and advantages in view the invention will be Y hereinafter particularly described, and then set forth in the claims following.

In the accompanying drawings which form part of this application and whereon corresponding reference characters indicate like parts in the several views 'Figure 1 is' a side elevation of the present invention, in conjunction with which is shown a suitable coperating cord impregnating or saturating apparatus, the latter being partly in side elevation and partly in section. Fig.-2 is an end view of the 1mproved bead forming apparatus. Fig. 3 is a face viewof the main rotary bead mold or winding drum, lmade of two separable sections, and partly broken away for the purpose of disclosing the innermost of. said sections. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view through one/edge of the rotary bead mold. Fig. 5 is a vertical central section compression roller.

' core after formation, j fragmentary sectional .view

for Letters Patent,

through the entire bead mold, showing in section also a tire bead in process of formation, and a fragment of a superposed Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view in Vertical section, corresponding with one edge ofy Fig. 5, but showing in addition an envelop or wrapper of frictioned fabric for inclosing4 the bead and, Fig. 7 is also a yof a modified form of rotary bead mold,` and a special compression roller for forming straight side beads. .I v

Reference being had to the drawings, the letters and numerals thereon, A indicates an air-tight closed tank or vacuum chamber constituting part of suitable cord-impregdrying mechanism, also of my material such as thread or cord B for use in building tire beads, capable of being exposed to a vacuum produced by any well known means, such as condenser C. Adjacent to the said tank A, and connected thereto by a supply pipe a, equipped with a controlling valve b, there is provided a suitable receptacle D for rubber cement or.

cord-impregnating material c so compounded as to renderit exceedingly hard when vulcanized. Valve b being now opened it is obvious that rubber Solution or cement c will flow freely from receptacle D into the tank or chamber Aso long as a partial vacuum is maintained therein, and the said valve vb remains open, to wholly or partially submerge the aforesaid skein of cord B for the purpose of saturating it. When desired, this saturating or impregnating operation may be augmented by air pressure om any suitable compressor (not shown) 'introduced into the tank A by wayv of hose attachment d after outlet valve e as well as the inlet valve b have first been closed.

Passing out of tank A through a diaphragm E, cord B is conducted over guident means constitute from the present invention,

g sheaves f, through a suitable drying pipe l?, equipped Witlra blower g for supplying'fresh air, as shown by Fig. 1 to a air of tension rolls which latter or equiva a part of the present invention.

Although it should be particularly noted thatany formof saturating or impregnatingapparatus, such for example, as an ordinarytube-machine, may be substituted for that shown, without in the leastdeparting which will now be particularly described as follows: rlhe numeral 1 indicates a main cast support or upright, wboltd toia suitable bed by means any uprising of anges 2,'and provided with arm 3 having at its upper end an angular o'set e., This main support 1 is bored transversely and fitted with a journal box or bearing for-shaft -5 projecting at each side there-l of. lllpon one end of thevs'aid shaft ismount-l ed .af pulley 6 adapted to be driven by any suitable means such as a belt 7 from a source of power, not shown; and upon the other end 'of the same shaft 5 there is rigidly secured, vor integrally formed, one of two Hanged separable rotary mold `members 8v being of annular form, and of a truncated `cone shape in cross section, as best shown by lFig. 5 of the drawings. "llhe inner surface of said mold member 8 is topped by bolt holes 9 as a means of readily and securely attaching a second coperating mold member 1Q of corresponding diameter and circularv form. 'llhe latter, however,- is configured upon its inner surface by a circular depression which is designed and adapted to neatly receive the truncated end or apex ot ythe aforesaid mold member 8; and is further provided with a series of key-hole slots 11 through which bolts 12 project into their respective bolt holes 9. lln assembling or separating these rotary mold members 8 and '10,

bolts l2 are not removed,vbut obviously the enlarged ends of slots 11 permit passage of the said bolt heads, whereupon a relative rointended to receive windings of a bead-orming'material such as the thread or cord B during'the operation of vbead forming. lln vertical ali-nement with the said packing groove 13is a compression roller 14 pivotally mounted upon ahand lever v15 as at 16, and adapted to enterv groove 13 vas shown by Fig'. 2. This lever15 is pivotally mounted upon the angular odsetoe otarm 3, and may shape.

intenses be counterweighted as at 17 for the purpose of normally holdingthe compression roller or wheel out of, and above the packing groove 1 3. And, as clearly indicated by 1F ig. 6, the said groove 13,-during the operation of bead forming, is 'rst lined with a strip of frictioned fabric 18 throughout its entire circumference, this strip, as shownby dotted lines, being finally folded over the bead core or bodyto become la part of the -iinished product as will later appear. bviously, the cross sectional area and form oi. tire beads may be varied indefinitely to meet special conditionsand tire requirements, by

merely varying the shape of the peripheral t Vgroove 13, as for example, straight side heads may yreadily be 'produced by a modification of parts such as shown by Fig. 7, in which the rotarymold member 8 is provided vi li a peripheral groove 13 of right anguiar' form,wherein a lining 18 is @mp10yed @he compression'rollerlt being of elongated And, as-indicatedl` by solid black in this Fig. 7, strands or coils of Wire may be interspersed with the windings of cord t .when desired for purposes of' strength rigidity. v

lAt one side of the beadiormingapparatus there is provided a cord tensioning device of any approved construction, by preference, however, comprising a pair ot rolls or rollers (19in vertical alinement with groove'l of the rotary bead mold. y

llnpractical operation, cord B lis taken from my improved cord-impregnating apparatus'as shown by Fig. 1 of the drawings, or

from an ordinary tube machinenor from any lsuitable rubber coating device, to the tension lrolls 19, and thence directly into the periph eral groove 13 of the rotary bead mold,

where by reason of its adhesive coating the end is caused to adhere to the inner surface of the frictional` fabric lining 18. 'lhe ro' tary bead mold-is then started and revolved rapidly in one direction until a suthcient .i

amount of thread or cord B has been coiled thereon, Within the envelop or lining 18, as shown ley-Fig. 6, the tension device 1 9 in the meantime insuring a close or compact coil.

During ythe Winding or coiling operation the compression roller 14a, by agency of the manually operated lever 15, 4is introduced into groove 13, and there firmly held for the purpose of'snuglycompacting the various convolutes of thread or cord Bas they are applied. 'lliis accomplished, and the bead core having been thus formed, the outwardlyV extendingjedges oit' the'friction fabric lining 18 are then folded upon themselves as shown by ydotted lines in Fig. 6 thus practically. completing anl annular ytire bead, although' as a most. convenient means for causing the adhesive and contactingsurfaces of fabric 18 to adhere one to the other, they maybe rolled .into place by a nal application of I noiv claim anddeslre to secure by Lettersroller 14. A complete annular tire bead having been thus formed with a core of circumferentially arranged rubber, saturated and impregnated threads or cords, inclosed Within an envelop or frictioned fabric, the same may now be removed from the rotary bead mold as follows: If bolts 12 have been screwed tightly into their respective boltl holes they are first loosened or backed off a thread or two, whereupon a slight relative rotation of the mold members 8 and 10 permits passage of the bolt heads through the enlarged ends of slots 11, and the bodily removal of -member 10 ina lateral direction, thus releasing the completed bead.

The foregoing being a description of my improved bead making apparatus in one form of construction, 1t should be understood that the component parts thereof may be variously changed, and rearranged, Without in the least departing from the spirit of my invention, and to all such changes2 modifications, and equivalents I lay claim the same as if hereinbefore set forth.

Having thus described my invention what Patent is: Y

1. In a tire bead-forming apparatus the combinationwith a rotary bead'mold provided with a packing groove of suitable configuration,

forming material into' said groove, and

`means for permitting the removal of the completed bead in unbroken annular form.v

2. In a tire bead-forming apparatus the combination with a rotary bead mold made in separable sections Which combine when assembled to form'the Walls of a suitable packing groove, and means for vdelivering bead-forming material into said groove under tension.

3. In a tire beadlforming apparatus the of means for delivering beadp combination with arotary bead mold made in separable sections which combine When assembled to form the Walls of a suitable packing groove, `of means for delivering bead-forming materialinto said groove, and means for compressing such material mto the form of a tire bead.

4. In a tire bead-forming apparatus the combination'- vvith a rotary bead mold made in laterally separable sections which combine when assembled to form the Walls and bottom of a suitable' packing groove, of means for delivering bead-forming strands into said groove, and a compression roller 'for packing sald strands into the said groove.

6. In a tire bead-forming apparatus the combination With a rotary bead mold made in laterally separable sections which combine ivhen assembled to form the Walls and bottom of a suitable packing groove, of means for delivering bead-forming strands into said groove, a roller adapted to enter said groove for compressing saidv strands, and an operating lever ulp'on which said roller is mounted.

6. In a tire bead-forming apparatus the combination with a rotary bead mold made in laterally separable interlocking sections which combine when assembled to form the walls andv bottom of a suitable packing groove, andlmeans for separating said sections in the plane of said packing groove to permit the removal of completed beads in unbroken annular form.`

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

CURT KUENTZEL.

Witnesses:

FRANK DUNN, ETHEL JoHNsoN. 

